Means for making embossed and printed decorative materials for walls



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. S. SEA-RS. MEANS FOR MAKING EMBOSSED AND PRINTED DEGORATIVH'MATERIALSFOR WALLS, &c.

No. 454,667. Patented June 23, 1891.

WITNEEEEE. P EN R- UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

EDYVARD S. SEARS, OF VINTIlROP, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN DECORA- TIVECOMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

MEANS FOR MAKING EMBOSSED AND PRINTED DECORATIVE MATERIALS FOR WALLS,&c.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 454,667, dated June 23,1891. Application filed January 24, 1891. Serial No. 378,889. (Nomodel.)

To 60% whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD S. SEARS, of Winthrop, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in the Means for Making Embossed and Printed DecorativeMaterials for WValls, &c., of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in meansfor decorating wood pulp, paper, cloth, leather, or other material to beused for the covering of walls and ceilings and for other purposes inconnection and simultaneously with the embossing of the same, thepurpose being at one and the same operation to emboss the material andto produce upon it decorative eifects similar to those now obtainedeither by first printing in colors upon the surface of the paper orother material the design to be embossed and subsequently embossing thesame or by embossing the material in a plain state and afterwardpainting, staining, or otherwise decorating it by hand; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a clear, full, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, of which- Figure 1 is a vertical section ofa rotary embossing-machine by means of which the simultaneous embossingand decoration may be done. Fig. '2 represents an enlarged section of aportion of the engraved roll and the rolls that apply color thereto, theengraved roll being provided with intaglio or sunken designs. Fig. 3represents a similar section showing the engraved roll provided withrelief or raised designs.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all of thefigures.

In the drawings, B represents an engraved embossing-roll, of metal orother suitably-rigid material, having its periphery adapted either bydepressions or intaglio designs d, as shown in Fig. 2, or by raised orrelief designs d, as shown in Fig. 3, to co-operate with an elastic oryielding surfaced impression-roll O in embossing a web of paper or otherlike material by forming projections on one side and correspondingindentations in the opposite side. The roll 0 is composed of a rigid hubor core and a coating of a yielding nature, such as india-rubber or someof its compounds, as shown in Letters Patent of the United States No.366,755, dated July 19, 1887.

The shafts of the rolls B O are mounted in hearings on asupporting-frame A of any suitable construction, the bearings O of theroll 0 being vertically adjustable by means of ad justing-screws 0 sothat the roll 0 can be adjusted to the thickness of the web inter .posedbetween it and the engraved roll B.

D D represent color-applying rolls of yielding material, arranged tobear on portions of the engraved roll, as hereinafter described. Saidrolls are preferably made of a composition of glue and glycerine or glueand molasses, the rolls being of the same nature as those used inprinting-presses to apply ink to the printing-surfaces.

The color employed, which may be printers ink or any other suitablecomposition in a fluid or semi-fluid state, is supplied from a reservoirE to the rolls D D through suitable transferring-rolls D or in any othersuitable way, as my invention is not limited to any particular means forapplying color to the yielding rolls D.

The chief novelty of my invention lies in the presentation of one ormore color-applying rolls of yielding material to an engraved roll ofhard material, used in connection with an impression-roll adapted toco-operate with the engraved roll in embossing a Web of paper, and byengraved roll, I mean a roll that has its surface diversified byintaglio depressions in or relief projections on its periphery.

An essential feature of my invention is the relative adjustment of thecolor-applying rolls, so that their peripheries will bear only on thehigher portions of the engraved roll and not on the lowest or mostdepressed portions, the amount of color applied being determined by theheight of the surface of the rol1erthat is to say, the highest portionswill receive the greatest supply of color, while those somewhat lower,yet not so far depressed as to be beyond the reach of the colorapplyingrolls, will receive a smaller supply or lighter coating, so that thecolor-applying rolls will apply color to the portions of the engravedroll with which they come in contact in the inverse ratio to theelevation or depression of said portions and will not apply any color.to the most deeply-depressed portions. The result is that a web ofpaper, wood pulp, leather, or any other suitable material adapted to beembossed by the action of the rolls B (J will in its passage between.said rolls be not only embossed, but at the same time colored orprinted on portions of its surface, the color applied to the web beingdiversified or shaded by the variations in the depth of the coatingapplied by the rolls D D, caused by the variations in the height of thesurface of the engraved roll.

The manner in which the apparatus operates and the results it producesare as follows: As the metallic embossing-roll revolves, the elasticityand adhesiveness of the colorrollers resting upon it cause its motion tobe imparted to them and by them in turn to the other rollers incombination with them; or, if it is desired, any suitable arrangement ofgearing or pulleys and belts or other wellknown devices may be attachedto the set of rollers for the purpose of setting and maintaining them inmotion, the proper mechanism at the same time permitting the outflow ofthe color from the fount or reservoir above described, and the samebeing distributed or spread upon the surface of the color-rollers andupon such portions of the design engraved upon the metallicembossing-roll as are most elevated or least depressed. The travelingweb of wood pulp, paper, cloth, leather, or other material which it'isdesired to emboss and decorate passes between the engravedembossing-roll and the impressionroll covered with india-rubberor otherelastic substance, and at the same instant that it is embossed it alsoreceives a coating of the color upon such portions of the design ascorrespond to the most elevated or least depressed portions of themetallic embossingroll. By this means not only are similar effects tothose gained in ordinary printing from types or engraved blocks (inwhich all portions which are to be colored are put upon the same plane)produced, but also delicate gradations of color and shading are obtainedby the application of color in varying degrees to the more elevated orless depressed portions of the design engraved upon the metallicembossing-roll, and the transference of the same to the surface of thewood pulp, paper, cloth, leather, or other material which is at the sameinstant and in the same operation embossed in relief of varying heights,this transference of color and embossing being effected by the elasticimpression-roll above described.

The foregoing description will be made clearer by reference to Figs. 2and 3, the former showing sunken or int-aglio designs d below theperiphery 19, while the latter shows varied or relief designs (1' abovesaid periphery. In said figures the dotted line q, parallel with theperiphery 19, shows the extreme inward limit which can be reached by theyielding or elastic surfaces of the color-applying rolls D D, said limitbeing within the periphery p of the intaglio embossing-roll and outsideof the periphery of the relief-roll. It will be seen that in both casesportions of the engraved roll are above and portions below the line q,and that the portions above said line are of varying height, so thatthey receive colorcoatings of different depth or strength from thecolor-applying rolls, the portions below the line q receiving no colorat all. The result, therefore, will be that a web w, of paper or othermaterial passed, between the intaglio embossing-roll and the accompanying impression-roll will be embossed in raised or relief patterns on itsupper sur face and at the same time colored on its unembossed or smoothportions and on the shallower parts of its raised patterns, the strengthof the color being in proportion to the height of the surface to whichit is applied, the highest portions of the raised patterns receiving nocolor from the embossing-roll, while the lower portions receive coatingsof varying strength or depth.

A web w, passed between the relief-embossing roll and theimpression-roll, will have depressed intaglio designs impressed in itsupper surface, the lower or deepest portions of said designs being atthe same time colored or shaded in varying degrees, according to theirdepth. In this case the embossed or smooth portion of the web and theshallower portions of the depressed designs will not be colored, thecolored portions being confined to the deepest portions of the depressedornamentation. It will be seen that by thus simultaneously embossing andprinting and shading a web of material I effect a considerable saving inthe expense of manufacturing embossed decorative material as comparedwith the usual means, which involve separate operations for embossingand coloring, the result produced by my improved means being quite assatisfactory as that produced by the successive operations heretoforeinvolved.

By theterm "lowest portions, as used in connection. with the surface ofthe embossingroll, I mean those portions which are nearest the axis orcenter of rotation of said roll, and by highest and higher portions Imean those that are farther from said axis or center.

I claim- ICC:

As a means for making embossed and col In testimony whereof I havesigned 'my name to this specification, in the presence of 10 twosubscribing witnesses, this 16th day of January, A. D. 1891.

EDWARD S. SEARS.

Witnesses:

' ELIAB PARKER,

O. F. BROWN.

